Baños, Ecuador

Baños was going off when we got there. It was the place for Ecuadorians to be for Easter Weekend. For our first couple of days I wasn’t sure what was everyday Baños and what was especially for the holiday weekend. There were fair like stalls everywhere as well as food stalls and even barbeques full of whole guinea pigs. Once all of the local tourists left there were still stalls selling water toys and souvenirs, I didn't see any more barbequed guinea pigs, and there were less people.

Baños is known for its thermal pools, taffy and cheap massages. I never mede it to the thermal pools but the others enjoyed them. I did however go on a four hour horse trek towards the local volcano. I was a tad worried when we started off with the guide following me and encouraging my horse, Brutus, to walk by whacking his rump with a plastic pipe. Brutus had his moments and would at times decide he'd had enough a refuse to move. When the whacking didn't work the guide was forced to get of his horse an lead us for a bit, while cursing (I'm guessing as I didn't understand what he said) and threatening Brutus with the pipe. It added an extra something else to the trek.

Easter Weekend

After Easter Weekend

Church to the left, classy stalls to the right.

Taffy pulling.

When you walk past they pull off bits and hand out samples.

I wasn't sure about the no glove thing.

Barbequed guinea pig anyone?

An impressive shelf in the supermarket

My horse trekking guide with his dirt drawing he used to explain what happen when the volcano erupted.

The volcano is behind those clouds.

The flying chair we used to get across the stream to the bar.

Refreshments in the middle of nowhere.

The bar's pool and slide from a tree house.

The Sangre de Drago (blood of the dragon) tree

The sap turns white when it's rubbed on skin.

It's used to heal wound and has many other medicinal purposes.

Looking down on Baños

Next stop = bus to Riobamba and over night there to catch the early morning train through the Andes.

Bellavista Cloud Forest and Mindo

From Quito it was a winding road north over the equator and into a cloud forest. We were greeted with rain and a lot of cloud (I guess that’s part of the deal). There was rain most of the time we were there but the sun came out on our last day. Days in Bellavista were spent doing school (Zane has a link on his blog to a quiz on Ecuador he created, if you want to learn some interesting facts), watching the hummingbirds (there were hummingbird feeders all around the garden that huge numbers of birds frequented), guided forest walks, eating three course meals (Ecuadorians are big on their soups: they often come with slices of avocado on top - surprisingly tasty), and reading while hiding from the rain.

Tana looking very festive on our forest walk.

This is the Cock of the Rock, we went out early one morning to a lek (an area where the men pracne around trying to show a female how manly there are. She mates with the flashiest one.

There was a lot of noise and movement but one didn't sit sit in the right place for me to get a photo so I took a photo of the poster instead.

Next stop was about 45 minutes down another winding road to Mindo. We stayed at a very nice lodge 3o minutes walk from town. Mindo is famous for its birds and its tubing down the river. I decided against the tubing as it was just too cold. My highlight in Mindo was the brownie and chocolate milkshake I had at a café that makes its own chocolate. Yum!
Our last night at the lodge was Easter Friday and our host served us up a traditional Ecuadorian Easter meal. The main part of the meal was the soup (this soup is only made for Easter). It was made from seven different grains, dried fish, and I’m sure there was some potato in there too. It was a meal on its own. Then we had mashed potatoes and veges and for desert a sweet rice drink, kind of like running rice pudding.

The main street

Quito, Ecuador

New country!
We rented a house in Quito’s Old Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Think narrow streets lined with historical buildings and I’m sure there was a church around every corner. There were heaps of people around, not too many tourists, and police everywhere so it felt very safe wandering around.
Town was buzzing with both Palm Sunday and Easter week (Santa Semana). On Palm Sunday the churches were all packed and there were people selling different palm creations on the streets. Apart from all of the people watching going on, it was also a great time for walking around the Old Town, as cars are not allowed in there on a Sunday.
While some locals were getting their palms blessed at one of the services at the basilica we climbed up above the clocks (there are plenty of photos below to show our mighty feat).
On the topic of heights, we also took a gondola up to 4100m (higher than Mt Cook). It was cold up there but we only stayed long enough to see that Quito is a massive city that stretches way beyond the Old Town and get the touristy photos. At the base of the gondola there was an amusement park so some playing was in order.

Fireworks on our first night from our roof top terrace.

Our digs for 4 nights.

Spying on the neighbours.

Cheers Quito!

The basilica from our place.

Walking the old town.

Grand Plaza

Another Palm Service over.

Palm creations for the masses

Heading through the Old Town

Check out how high that is.

Palm Sunday service inside the basilica.

After all tha climbing we deserve ice cream!

View from the top of the gondola.

Me at 4100m.

Tana and I are in the front, of course.

Police dogs?